The readers of this blog probably realize that in Arizona, workers’ compensation offer certain types of benefits to injured or ill employees when an employee’s injury or illness is work-related. With some exceptions, these benefits are afforded employees even when the employee is partially or even completely at fault for the injury.
The system places the responsibility of ensuring a safe and healthy workplace squarely on the shoulders of the employer. While this might seem like a burden to an employer, the employer also gets an important benefit in that employees can only get certain types of compensation and does not have access to other benefits that the employee may get were he or she able to file a lawsuit against the employer.
Workers’ compensation, first and foremost, will pay for an injured employee’s medical care and treatment for the injury or illness. Furthermore, if the employee is out of work for any length of time because of the injury, then the employer may have to cover a replacement income payment through its workers’ compensation insurance. In some cases, the employer may have to pay a replacement income benefit long-term and for ongoing rehabilitative care.
However, the flip side is that these are all of the benefits that an Arizona employee can expect to receive from an employer. With rare exceptions, an employee who gets workers’ compensation benefits will not be allowed to make claim for items like emotional distress or pain and suffering against his or her employer. Just the same, it is probably reassuring to many employees that their employers must offer them some compensation.
